The Cadillac turned onto the street after her. Not even trying to hide what you’re doing. Shay was relieved. Their arrogance was going to be easier to deal with than a well thought out plan. She could still make the plane on time.
“Not the first morons to underestimate me. Let’s play…”
Shay slowed the vehicle and turned into a small dirt lot, waiting. The Cadillac pulled into the lot and slowed to a stop. All four doors opened, and three very large Mexican men in dark suits and sun glasses, stepped out, along with one tall, hulking woman. All of them wore holsters on their belt and were carrying automatic weapons.
At least they aren’t zombies.
Shay didn’t kill her engine. She opened her door and hopped out of the car, offering the group a smile.
“Can I help you?” she asked in Spanish. “I noticed your car following me.” Her tone was calm and measured. If they had known her better, they would have recognized the warning and gotten back in the car. It was nothing personal. Shay was reverting to her old instincts in her former business. Take it all in as data. Look for the kill moment.
“You’re gonna give us your Land Rover, bitch,” one of the men said, patting the side of his holster.
“Who are you and why should I give you anything?”
He sneered. “We’re from the Nuevo Gulf Cartel. You’re in our territory without our permission. That makes us think you’re trying to steal from us.”
“I haven’t stolen anything from the cartel.”
“We’re not very good at taking someone’s word for anything, bitch.”
Shay’s gaze darted between each of the men. They’d already made a fatal miscalculation by not shooting when she first got out of the car. The only question she had left was whether they recognized who she was. That would present serious problems if she let them live.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said. Her voice was still an icy calm, her eyes narrowing in the bright morning sunlight. “I was just hiking in the mountains. I didn’t steal anything from the Nuevo Gulf.”
“Lying will make all of this worse.” The man glared at her, glancing back at the others in the group. A man with a bushy moustache hanging down past his chin gave him a subtle nod.
The leader of the group. Interesting. He’s letting this mouthpiece speak for him to throw me off. Clever. Shay noticed the family resemblance between the leader and the large, muscular woman next to him. Family that fights together. I can respect that.
“You think you can run drugs in our territory without us knowing? Without our fucking permission?”
The man’s voice came out in a low growl. “Turn over the truck and maybe you can leave this town alive.” His finger moved toward the trigger as the others spread out, moving to her sides.
Now or never.
Killing four cartel members wasn’t exactly on the checklist for keeping a low profile, but they were leaving her no choice. Well, almost no choice.
“Have it your way,” Shay shouted in Spanish. Her hand had been resting on her belt, easily covering a sonic grenade that fit in the palm of her hand. She pulled it off her belt, dislodging the pin and threw it into the center of the group. The distance was just far enough that the blast knocked her back without taking her out.
It was all the time she needed.
The leader was down on the ground but already rolling over, his gun raised as Shay put a bullet in the side of his head, just above his ear. One down.
The woman let out an angry battle cry and pointed her gun. Shay picked her off as the next man’s eyes widened in recognition. Too bad. I was still on the fence about the last two. Not anymore.
Shay kept her gun moving, taking a kill shot, no negotiations left. “Sorry, guys. I can’t let the wrong people find out I’m still alive.” She smashed their phones with the butt of her gun and removed the SD cards, ensuring the destruction of any surveillance photos. She carefully picked up any shell casings and the remains of the grenade leaving no evidence that might somehow tie back to her.
At the last moment she fired a bullet into the GPS in the Cadillac, making it harder for anyone to find the bodies any time soon.
Shay walked away satisfied, turning to give a wave to the crumpled figures as she headed back to her vehicle. “And I have a flight to catch.” She left the bodies for the vultures and the beetles common to the desert to devour. By the time the cartel discovered whatever was left, Shay would be long gone
Not a bad day’s work for a dead woman.
Chapter Fourteen
Shay got the gold transported back to the States and safely delivered without another hitch. She gave the pilot a bonus and went home to sleep, leaving Peyton a text that the mission was a success.
She turned the ringer off on her phone even as she saw the texts back from him asking for more details. That will have to wait.
She flipped her phone face down and passed out on her bed, grateful to be in air conditioning under a comforter on her specially-made mattress. Her reward for sleeping in a rental car.
It wasn’t till the next morning before she got up and made herself go to Warehouse One and work out, running the circuit. It was tempting to cut it short but that’s how tomb raiders ended up dead. She had seen how her training paid off in the desert.
After a shower and a feta and bacon omelet, she drove back to her condo and fired up the laptop as she waited for the news that the money was transferred.
Time to look for new digs. It was a promise she made
